Food Ethics and Cooking Chemistry
Project Description
Project Description
The food project was a way for us to explore the food industry in the United States and its problems and for us to explore solutions to the problem. Additionally, based off what we had learned from reading the book " The Omnivore's Dilemma" and watching a few different documentaries based on the food industry, we were then tasked with coming up with our own food ethics. Then in chemistry we were tasked with coming up with a meal that we wanted to cook. Then we had to change a variable in the meal that would change a desired attribute of the meal. Then we looked into the science behind the variable we changed and the effects it would have on the final outcome. The final goal from both classes was to create a 5 course meal with a group of students, each course tried to incorporate the food we had made in chemistry and all the ingredients had to go along with our food ethics.
How did the interdisciplinary nature of this project impact your learning?
The interdisciplinary nature of this project helped me further understand what I had learned by applying my food ethic. Being able to connect the two classes and subjects was super helpful for me to be able to understand the content better. Seeing how it was applied in a chemistry and humanities standpoint showed me that the two were easy to connect in the right context. I still prefer to keep the content of the two classes separate because it was surprisingly difficult to be able to get all the work done for both classes because of how assignments ended up lining up. As far as how it impacted my learning, it made some things easier, like seeing a connection to the real world but as far as me actually learning the content it did not change all that much.
What are your main takeaways from studying food academically? How has your thinking about food changed from before?
My main takeaways from studying food academically is that the american food system is corrupt. It does not allow lower class people to eat healthy and encourages eating fast food. And that's one of the problems with why America is so obese. Additionally the way that we actually farm and grow food is incredibly inhumane. The feedlots are a terrible place for animals to live and a breeding ground for potentially harmful diseases. The animals are loaded with steroids and growth hormones and it turns something that could have been healthy into a fatty blob that causes heart problems. Our plants are covered in pesticides and chemicals and if the fruit or vegetable that is produced is not exactly what the stores want it to look like then it is just thrown away even if everything about it is perfect besides its appearance. before this project I had not quite realized the impact of eating beef that wasn't grass fed, and now that I have learned about the environmental effects that it has I will stop buying corn fed meats. That is including chicken, beef, and pork products. There are things that we need to change and that change needs to happen soon.
The food project was a way for us to explore the food industry in the United States and its problems and for us to explore solutions to the problem. Additionally, based off what we had learned from reading the book " The Omnivore's Dilemma" and watching a few different documentaries based on the food industry, we were then tasked with coming up with our own food ethics. Then in chemistry we were tasked with coming up with a meal that we wanted to cook. Then we had to change a variable in the meal that would change a desired attribute of the meal. Then we looked into the science behind the variable we changed and the effects it would have on the final outcome. The final goal from both classes was to create a 5 course meal with a group of students, each course tried to incorporate the food we had made in chemistry and all the ingredients had to go along with our food ethics.
How did the interdisciplinary nature of this project impact your learning?
The interdisciplinary nature of this project helped me further understand what I had learned by applying my food ethic. Being able to connect the two classes and subjects was super helpful for me to be able to understand the content better. Seeing how it was applied in a chemistry and humanities standpoint showed me that the two were easy to connect in the right context. I still prefer to keep the content of the two classes separate because it was surprisingly difficult to be able to get all the work done for both classes because of how assignments ended up lining up. As far as how it impacted my learning, it made some things easier, like seeing a connection to the real world but as far as me actually learning the content it did not change all that much.
What are your main takeaways from studying food academically? How has your thinking about food changed from before?
My main takeaways from studying food academically is that the american food system is corrupt. It does not allow lower class people to eat healthy and encourages eating fast food. And that's one of the problems with why America is so obese. Additionally the way that we actually farm and grow food is incredibly inhumane. The feedlots are a terrible place for animals to live and a breeding ground for potentially harmful diseases. The animals are loaded with steroids and growth hormones and it turns something that could have been healthy into a fatty blob that causes heart problems. Our plants are covered in pesticides and chemicals and if the fruit or vegetable that is produced is not exactly what the stores want it to look like then it is just thrown away even if everything about it is perfect besides its appearance. before this project I had not quite realized the impact of eating beef that wasn't grass fed, and now that I have learned about the environmental effects that it has I will stop buying corn fed meats. That is including chicken, beef, and pork products. There are things that we need to change and that change needs to happen soon.